Water, water, everywhere, nor a drop to drink.

SandwichShortOfAPicnic

SandwichShortOfAPicnic

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24 Mar 2023
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Somerset & Costa Tropical Spain
I couldn't fathom why everyone in Spain (well not quite everyone but a the vast majority) drink bottled water. The water here is classed as potable quality. When I tried to make a cup of tea with it and it was truly awful. It has almost a slimy quality and certainly makes odd tasting tea. I immediately bought a water filter and that made a little difference but not a lot.
So I look it up and apparently Spaniards buy water because in most areas they don't like the way their water tastes.

I've just tested the waters TDS (total dissolved solids) and it's currently at 376ppm so it's not a surprise the water has a 'flavour'
A brand new Brita filter doesn't even half it, it brought it down to 273ppm and theres still quite a film on the tea.
I don't want to buy bottled water, environmentally it bothers me and I'm not entirely convinced health wise drinking water stored in plastic bottles is good for you. So I'm thinking an upgrade to a Zero water filter might do even if they are rather pricey.

Can you drink straight from your tap or do you have to do something to make your water palatable?
 
The OMWC said:
Our water is hard enough to shatter diamonds. I suppose it's what people pay extra for (minerals! electrolytes!), but all my pots, pans, and glassware require an extra scrub step to get rid of the white caked calcium deposits.
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In the UK I have the same. Limescale galore!
But I think I prefer it to soft water where it seems to take twice as long to rinse the soap of you!
 
SandwichShortOfAPicnic said:
Can you drink straight from your tap or do you have to do something to make your water palatable?
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We can, and it isn’t bad, but it’s not great, so we use a combination of filtered water and bottled water.

It was a lot better when we first moved here in 2004 and we did drink/cook straight from the tap, but the quality has gone down over the years.

Growing up, we had well water, and that was nasty x100 - most days, it had a definite orange hue, some days, it even have flakes in it, and it smelled of sulfur and tasted rancid. We used it, though, because that was the water we had.
 
TastyReuben said:
Growing up, we had well water, and that was nasty x100 - most days, it had a definite orange hue, some days, it even have flakes in it, and it smelled of sulfur and tasted rancid. We used it, though, because that was the water we had.
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Theres one place en route to n fro the UK Mr SSOAP is fond of so we always stop there. The water out of their taps is very brown.

We don’t drink it (the gin and tonics fine though 😜) and one occasion I said I was thirsty so Mr SSOAP handed me a glass of water.
I assumed it was bottled he’d poured. Nope he forgot.
I was so ill, I don’t think I ever want to ride a bike in that state again 💩 😬😆

I have my doubts Spains water is as fit for human consumption as they say!!
 
Venezuela has plenty of natural sources for water, including the Amazon and Orinoco rivers. When it rains here, it rains, and the skies can easily dump 5-10 mm in a day. However, the national water company is possibly one of the worst in the entire world. We sometimes go weeks without water supply.
When it does arrive, the water is extremely suspect in quality and heavily chlorinated. We buy all our water in 10 gallon bottles. Drinking tap water is a sure way to end up in hospital.
 
Detroit water is, in my opinion, the best tap water in the world. It's refreshing straight from the tap without any filtration or treatment, and it's crystal clear. I've visited dozens of states and countries, and nothing compares to it.

Having said that, Michigan's overall water quality score is pulled down (rightfully so) by the scandalous treatment of the citizens of Flint. I really do wish there were a uniform standard. Everyone should have water that's this good.
 
The Late Night Gourmet said:
Detroit water is, in my opinion, the best tap water in the world. It's refreshing straight from the tap without any filtration or treatment, and it's crystal clear. I've visited dozens of states and countries, and nothing compares to it.

Having said that, Michigan's overall water quality score is pulled down (rightfully so) by the scandalous treatment of the citizens of Flint. I really do wish there were a uniform standard. Everyone should have water that's this good.
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Horrifying. Absolutely horrifying.
Are the people in charge psychos?!
 
SandwichShortOfAPicnic said:
Horrifying. Absolutely horrifying.
Are the people in charge psychos?!
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In word? Yes. Flint previously had access to the same water that I get to drink; the water supply was switched to the Flint River - which is contaminated by pollutants from factories - as a cost-saving measure. Corrosion-inhibiters that I get in my water were absent for the people of Flint, meaning any lead-lined pipes were more prone to also leech that into the drinking supply. The people who made the decision valued money over people.
 
The Late Night Gourmet said:
In word? Yes. Flint previously had access to the same water that I get to drink; the water supply was switched to the Flint River - which is contaminated by pollutants from factories - as a cost-saving measure. Corrosion-inhibiters that I get in my water were absent for the people of Flint, meaning any lead-lined pipes were more prone to also leech that into the drinking supply. The people who made the decision valued money over people.
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So I read in the link you provided.
One of my friends thinks that America is a safe country because if you do anything wrong you'd get sued and fear of litigation is enough to keep people in check.
I said I think not, there are numerous examples of people behaving with no regard for human life and assuming they'll get away with it.

I just find it hard to believe after the huge publicity of the contamination in Hinckley California that anyone would go there again (not the geographical place I mean to supply contaminated water and assume you'll get away with it.

That reminds me I need to order a 'Lifestraw' bottle for my return journey, no more drinking dodgy brown water for me!
 
Um... I'm not sure I've drunk any water for a long time (except in tea). And this got me thinking that I'm pretty sure when I was a kid in 50's/60's UK, water wasn't something you drank on its own. You might have a bit to swallow a pill but otherwise it was in tea or cordial.

Anyway, if I remember correctly, the last time I drank water it was tap water and it was OK here in Kent. I will try some now and report back...

A few minutes later:

... had a few gulps and it tasted OK. Well it didn't taste of anything really and was rather boring.
 
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SandwichShortOfAPicnic said:
Theres one place en route to n fro the UK Mr SSOAP is fond of so we always stop there. The water out of their taps is very brown.
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I grew up with brown water. We'd joke that bath water was already dirty before you got into it! It was the peat from the local environment. It was totally fine to drink. It was also private water and untreated. It would rain and literally run off the mountainside and into the burn alongside the cottage and you'd drink that.

For a short time I lived in Staffordshire on mains water and that was unbelievable hard water. So much limescale on everything, but kettles were the worst. Dishwashers and washing machines needed a water softener in them for every wash just to keep them working for more than 12 months. The boiler for the central heating was always filled with demineralised water to keep it working, but the hot water system was left to its own devices and frequently needed help from a plumber. You never drank the bottom of a hot drink because of the limescale in the mug.

For the 3 years I was at university in Lancashire we had the exact opposite. The kettle looked brand new after 3 years of use. The water was stunning soft and pure. That was the last time I lived on mains water (early 90's).

Here, my/our water is rain water. If it doesn't rain, we don't have water. I can see the shearing shed from my dining room window. That's our rain collection shed with an old concrete water tank alongside it. The concrete doesn't give any issues anymore. Despite the water being incredibly pure, and soft, we do get an odd build up in the kettle and I suspect on the boiler as well, that is dark brown in colour. It's from the eucalyptus gum leaves decomposing in the gutters on the shearing shed. (That big tree in the photo below). But you can't easily get to those gutter because it's a 2 storey high roofed building, so we just have to use kettle cleaner periodically to remove the build up. You can't taste it. All of this water is unfiltered and untreated, so we do get insect remains turning up from time to time, but that's part of life. It used to happen in the UK at one of our old rental houses as well.

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That concrete tank is our rain water oddly enough called tank water here in Australia (Aussies have very literal naming systems). It's a touch over 22,000 litres. In the shadows between the 2 tree trunks, there is another much smaller tank for the sheep, connected to an old bath in typical farm style. That's about 3,000 litres. We've another 3,000L tank behind the garage that is also for sheep (in another old bath) and our chooks on a drinking trough. And at the back of our house there is another 22,000L task for the garden/veg plot and emergency use (as in fire fighting). It could at a stretch top up the house if the supply ran short, but the concrete tank is in a daisy chain with another shed roof tank plus the dams can be used if really needed (but that would need treating unless it was washing and sanitation only), so despite 3 years of drought, we never needed to use it for drinking water.
 
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